The former councillor was seen making his deliveries in shorts despite the sub-zero temperatures outside.

Jean Cheesman, 72, who lived in the house behind the Johnsons, said Keith had been a "little out of sorts."

Another neighbour said Cllr Johnson had seemed "unusually down" when he spoke to him.

He said: "When I spoke to him he seemed down. He was usually a really chatty lively sort of person, but he wasn't like that."

Colleagues at North Norfolk District Council today paid tribute to Mr Johnson, describing him as a 'great loss to the whole community'.

In a statement on the council's website, Deputy Leader, Tom FitzPatrick: "It is with enormous shock and huge sadness that we have learned of the deaths of Council Leader Keith Johnson and his wife Andrea.

"Keith was a highly respected and much loved Member of North Norfolk District Council. He will be greatly missed by the Council and his death is a great loss to the whole community.

"Keith and Andrea were well known by many people in the district and our thoughts and prayers go out to both their families and close friends."

Police were called to the couple's £230,000 bungalow in the quiet Compit Hills housing estate in Roughton, near Cromer, Norfolk, on Sunday after reports of gun shots.

The two neighbouring bungalows adjacent to the house home were immediately sealed off with crime scene tape.

Homeowners were stopped from entering the area while forensic teams scoured the scene but were later allowed back to their homes.

The deaths came just hours after communitarian Cllr Johnson helped launch the local Christmas market he helped organise.

On Friday the jovial former mayor was seen at the opening of a new Waitrose supermarket in the town.

The couple, who married in 2004 after 18 years together, were said to enjoy a lively lifestyle despite Mrs Johnson's recent illness.

Neighbours said the pair could often be heard enjoying hot tub parties with friends in their garden.

They also regularly holidayed with pals and are understood to have visited the Canary Islands earlier this year.

Mrs Johnson’s Porsche Boxster was yesterday still parked on the couple’s front lawn next to Mr Johnson’s Mercedes E220 on the driveway.

Norfolk police said both deaths were thought to have died from gunshot wounds although post-mortem examinations were under way and formal identification would follow.

Detective Superintendent Peter Hornby from Norfolk Police said: "Whilst I understand this is a very shocking incident for the neighbours of the two people involved, I can reassure them that, at this stage, we are not looking for anyone else in connection with it."